KENNETH M. KARAS, District Judge:
Tracy Masciotta has brought this Action as the parent and guardian of V.M. ("Plaintiff") under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and New York state law, alleging that Carol Napier ("Napier"), Susan Gold ("Gold"), Mary Kay Humenn ("Humenn") (collectively the "Individual Defendants"), and the Clarkstown Central School District (together with Napier, Gold, and Humenn, "Defendants"), violated the United States Constitution and the New York State Constitution and committed a number of state common law torts. Defendants move to dismiss all claims. For the following reasons, Defendants' Motion To Dismiss is granted.
The following facts are taken from Plaintiff's Complaint and are presumed to be true for the purposes of this Motion. Plaintiff is a 14-year-old student at Clarkstown North High School, which is part of the Clarkstown Central School District (the "School District"). (Compl. ¶ 1 (Dkt. No. 1).) At the time of the events complained of, Napier was a school psychiatrist employed by the School District; Gold was a school social worker employed by the School District; and Humenn was a registered nurse employed by the School District. (Id. ¶¶ 3-5.)
On December 9, 2013, Plaintiff reported to Napier's office "to complete a scheduled test." (Id. ¶ 16.) When Plaintiff entered the office, she "observed that [D.H.], who is a fellow student and friend" was in the office. (Id. ¶ 17.) Plaintiff asked why D.H. was there. (Id. ¶ 18.) Napier responded that D.H. "was on her schedule and that it [was] difficult to explain," and told Plaintiff to leave. (Id.) Plaintiff left the office. (See id. ¶ 19.) Plaintiff later received a phone call from D.H., who told her that Napier "was questioning him about a purported cut on Plaintiff's leg," and that Napier believed Plaintiff had showed D.H. this cut, but that he "denied that he had ever seen such a cut, or knew anything about it." (Id. ¶¶ 19-20.)
Gold then approached Plaintiff, told her that she had been looking for her, and "gestured for Plaintiff to accompany her to the Nurse's Office." (Id. ¶ 21.) When they arrived at the Nurse's Office, Humenn was present, and Gold informed Plaintiff and Humenn "that they were present in the Nurse's Office because there supposedly exist[ed] a carving of a cat on Plaintiff's leg and it need[ed] to be checked." (Id. ¶¶ 22-23.)
Plaintiff alleges that in carrying out this search "Humenn intentionally both threatened to and did make unwanted physical contact with Plaintiff by directing Plaintiff to lower her pants, and by taking hold of Plaintiff's shirt and raising it above the level of Plaintiff's brassiere." (Id. ¶ 73.) Additionally, Plaintiff claims she "was subjected to unwanted and offensive physical contact and was placed in imminent apprehension of unwanted and offensive physical contact." (Id. ¶ 74.) Moreover, Plaintiff alleges that she was "intentionally confined... in [a] storage closet," she was "conscious of the confinement," she "did not consent to the confinement," and that the confinement was not privileged. (Id. ¶¶ 81-84.) Plaintiff also claims that that "Gold and Napier directed the strip search of Plaintiff," but she admits that this allegation is based on "the circumstances leading to the strip search of Plaintiff." (Id. ¶ 75.)
When Plaintiff exited the closet into the Nurse's Office, Gold was present and on the phone with Napier. (Id. ¶ 31.) Gold handed Plaintiff the telephone, (id. ¶ 31), and Napier told Plaintiff that she was "not being truthful about cutting herself, and urged Plaintiff to tell the truth, claiming that [D.H.] had told ... Napier that Plaintiff showed [D.H.] the purported cut on Plaintiff's leg," (id. ¶ 32 (internal quotation marks omitted)). Plaintiff stated that "she had no marks on her and had never shown [D.H.] her leg, or any purported cut on her leg." (Id.) After the phone conversation, Humenn said, "I need to go through your phone," and Plaintiff replied, "No, you don't." (Id. ¶ 33 (internal quotation marks omitted).) Humenn "then searched through Plaintiff's phone, looking at Plaintiff's Instagram account, Facebook account, and all of her photo albums, before returning the phone to Plaintiff." (Id. ¶ 34.) This search also "did not reveal any evidence of self-cutting." (Id. ¶ 35.) Gold then called School Police Officer Matthew Barry, and told him that Plaintiff "had carved a cat into her leg and that the carving was seen in an Instagram photo, but that the search did not reveal any evidence of the carving." (Id. ¶ 36.) Plaintiff "spoke briefly on the telephone with Officer Barry and was then permitted to leave the Nurse's Office." (Id. ¶ 37.) Plaintiff "exited the office and ran out of the school building in tears." (Id. ¶ 38.)
According to Plaintiff, "[a]t no point prior to the search of Plaintiff[] did any of the Individual Defendants or any employee of the [District] contact Plaintiff's parents to either discuss the purported cutting, or to obtain permission to conduct the ... strip-search of Plaintiff and search of Plaintiff's telephone." (Id. ¶ 39.) Additionally,
Plaintiff alleges that the Individual Defendants conspired to deprive Plaintiff of her rights. In particular, she alleges that the "wrongful acts, omissions and Constitutional deprivations committed by the Defendants were part and parcel of an agreement and conspiracy between the various Individual Defendants to maliciously violate Plaintiff's civil rights." (Id. ¶ 46.) Plaintiff further alleges upon information and belief that "each of the Individual Defendants was aware of, agreed to and/or approved of at least one overt act in furtherance of their conspiracy to deprive ... Plaintiff of her Constitutional rights." (Id.)
Plaintiff alleges two bases for liability of the District. First, Plaintiff generally alleges that the School District and its agents and employees "developed and maintained policies and/or customs exhibiting deliberate indifference to the Constitutional rights of Plaintiff and other students similarly situated." (Id. ¶ 54; see also id. ¶ 59 (alleging that the District, and its agents and employees "developed and maintained policies and/or customs exhibiting deliberate indifference to the Constitutional rights of Plaintiff and other students similarly situated, which caused a violation of Plaintiff's Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights").) Second, Plaintiff alleges that the School District is liable under respondeat superior because the "Individual Defendants were acting within the scope of their employment" with the School District "when they committed the wrongful acts." (Id. ¶ 65; see also id. ¶¶ 70, 78, 87, 92, 98, 103.)
Finally, Plaintiff alleges that she has "suffered mental anguish resulting in depression, loss of appetite, loss of sleep, nightmares, stomach pains, panic attacks, fear of closed spaces, fear of authority figures and discomfort at school," as well as "public humiliation and stigma." (Id. ¶¶ 40-41; see also id. ¶ 91 ("As a direct result of the Defendants['] actions, the Plaintiff was made to suffer extreme emotional and psychological damages.").) Furthermore, she alleges that the "wrongful and illegal acts [of Defendants] were undertaken with the knowledge and intent that these acts would cause the Plaintiff grievous injury and damage," and that they were "undertaken with malice and wrongful intent." (Id. ¶¶ 101-02.)
From these factual allegations, Plaintiff asserts ten causes of action, each of which is asserted against all Defendants: (1) substantive deprivation and conspiracy to deprive Plaintiff of her constitutional rights under § 1983; (2) a violation of her Fourth Amendment rights to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures; (3) a violation of her Fifth Amendment right to Due Process; (4) a violation of her New York State constitutional rights to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures; (5) a violation of her New York State constitutional right to Due Process; (6) assault and battery; (7) false imprisonment; (8) intentional infliction of emotional distress; (9) negligent infliction of emotional distress; and (10) prima facie tort. (Id. ¶¶ 44-105.)
On March 5, 2014, Plaintiff served a Notice of Claim on the Town of Clarkstown. (See Decl. of Anthony F. Cardoso in Supp. of Defs.' Mot. To Dismiss ("Cardoso Decl.") Ex. B (Notice of Claim) (Dkt. No. 13).) The Notice of Claim stated that James and Tracy Masciotta, as parents and guardians of Plaintiff, made the following claims against the Clarkstown Central School District:
(Id. at 1.) Plaintiff filed the Complaint in this case on September 4, 2014. (Dkt. No. 1.) Pursuant to a scheduling order entered by the Court, (Dkt. No. 11), and amended at the request of the Parties, (Dkt. No. 16), Defendants filed their Motion To Dismiss and accompanying papers on January 9, 2015, (Dkt. Nos. 12-14); Plaintiff filed her Opposition on February 13, 2015, (Dkt. No. 17); and Defendants filed their Reply on February 27, 2015, (Dkt. No. 18). On May 19, 2015, the Court ordered the Parties to submit supplemental briefing on three issues: whether the Court could consider the Notice of Claim, whether the Motion based on the adequacy of the Notice of Claim was properly considered a motion under Rule 12(b)(1) or Rule 12(b)(6), and whether the Notice of Claim sufficiently sets forth "the time when, the place where and the manner in which the claim arose," as required by N.Y. Gen. Mun. L. § 50-e, and complied with any other requirement pertaining to notices of claim under New York state law. (See Dkt. No. 19.) In response, Defendants and Plaintiff submitted the requested briefing on May 26, 2015 and May 28, 2015, respectively. (See Dkt. Nos. 20, 23.)
Defendants move to dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint under Rule 12(b) (6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. "While a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss does not need detailed factual allegations, a plaintiff's obligation to provide the grounds of his entitlement to relief requires more than labels and conclusions...." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (brackets, citations, and internal quotation marks omitted).
"[W]hen ruling on a defendant's motion to dismiss, a judge must accept as true all of the factual allegations contained in the complaint." Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007); see also Nielsen v. Rabin, 746 F.3d 58, 62 (2d Cir.2014) ("In addressing the sufficiency of a complaint we accept as true all factual allegations ...." (internal quotation marks omitted)); Dixon v. United States, No. 13-CV-2193, 2014 WL 23427, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 2, 2014) (report and recommendation) ("For the purpose of this motion to dismiss, we assume that the facts alleged in [the plaintiff's] complaint are true."). Further, "[f]or the purpose of resolving [a] motion to dismiss, the [c]ourt... draw[s] all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff." Daniel v. T & M Prot. Res., Inc., 992 F.Supp.2d 302, 304 n. 1 (S.D.N.Y.2014) (citing Koch v. Christie's Int'l PLC, 699 F.3d 141, 145 (2d Cir.2012)). However, "the tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions." Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.
"In ruling on a 12(b)(6) motion, ... a court may consider the complaint as well as any written instrument attached to the complaint as an exhibit or any statements or documents incorporated in it by reference," as well as "matters of which judicial notice may be taken, and documents either in plaintiffs' possession or of which plaintiffs had knowledge and relied on in bringing suit." Kalyanaram v. Am. Ass'n of Univ. Professors at N.Y. Inst. of Tech., Inc., 742 F.3d 42, 44 n. 1 (2d Cir.2014) (brackets and internal quotation marks omitted), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S.Ct. 677, 190 L.Ed.2d 390 (2014); see also Leonard F. v. Isr. Disc. Bank of N.Y., 199 F.3d 99, 107 (2d Cir.1999) ("In adjudicating a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a district court must confine its consideration to facts stated on the face of the complaint, in documents appended to the complaint or incorporated in the complaint by reference, and to matters of which judicial notice may be taken." (internal quotation marks omitted)); Hendrix v. City of New York, No. 12-CV-5011, 2013 WL 6835168, at *2 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 20, 2013) (same).
Qualified immunity shields a "government official[] from liability for civil damages insofar as [his or her] conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Messerschmidt v. Millender, ___ U.S. ___, 132 S.Ct. 1235, 1244, 182 L.Ed.2d 47 (2012) (internal quotation marks omitted). Qualified immunity "`gives government officials breathing room to make reasonable but mistaken judgments' by `protect[ing] all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.'" City & Cty. of San Francisco v. Sheehan, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S.Ct. 1765, 1774, 191 L.Ed.2d 856 (2015) (alteration in original) (quoting Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, 563 U.S. 731, 131 S.Ct. 2074, 179 L.Ed.2d 1149 (2011)). "Qualified immunity protects public officials from civil liability only if (a) the defendant's action did not violate clearly established law, or (b) it was objectively reasonable for the defendant to believe that his action did not violate such law." Coggins v. Buonora, 776 F.3d 108, 114 (2d Cir.2015) (internal quotation marks omitted), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S.Ct. 2335, 191 L.Ed.2d 981 (2015). Determining whether qualified immunity attaches "is guided by two questions: first, whether the facts show that the defendants' conduct violated plaintiffs' constitutional rights, and second, whether the right was clearly established at the time of the defendants' actions." Golodner v. Berliner, 770 F.3d 196, 201 (2d Cir.2014) (alterations and internal quotation marks omitted). These two questions "no longer need to be [addressed] in any particular order." Bermudez v. City of New York, 783 F.Supp.2d 560, 580 (S.D.N.Y.2011); see also Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 236, 129 S.Ct. 808, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009) ("The judges of the district courts and the courts of appeals should be permitted to exercise their sound discretion in deciding which of the two prongs of the qualified immunity analysis should be addressed first in light of the circumstances in the particular case at hand."); Golodner, 770 F.3d at 201 ("We may address these questions in either order ....").
Because qualified immunity "reflects an immunity from suit rather than a mere defense to liability ... it is appropriate to decide the issue of qualified immunity, when raised, at an early stage of the litigation, such as when deciding a pre-answer motion to dismiss." Betts v. Shearman, No. 12-CV-3195, 2013 WL 311124, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 24, 2013) (internal quotation marks omitted), aff'd, 751 F.3d 78 (2d Cir.2014). "[W]hen determining a motion to dismiss on qualified immunity grounds in advance of full merits discovery, the plaintiff's version of the facts is presumed to be true...." 5 Borough Pawn, LLC v. City of New York, 640 F.Supp.2d 268, 285 (S.D.N.Y.2009). In such cases, "the question to be answered is whether the defendant ..., confronted with the facts as alleged by [the] plaintiff, could reasonably have believed that his actions did not violate some settled constitutional right." Id.
Plaintiff claims that the physical and telephone searches violated her Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. (See Compl. ¶¶ 50-55.) As alleged by Plaintiff, the searches — both of her body and of her phone — were done for medical purposes. In particular, each search was done "for the purported purpose of determining whether Plaintiff had injured herself." (Compl. ¶ 7.) This is bolstered by Plaintiff's allegations that she was taken to the nurse's office and that she was told that
The first issue the Court must address is whether the Fourth Amendment applies to the search and seizure at issue. The Fourth Amendment provides that "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated...." U.S. Const. Amend. IV. The Fourth Amendment is not triggered unless a search or seizure has occurred, and "the antecedent question whether or not a Fourth Amendment `search' [or seizure] has occurred is not so simple under [the Supreme Court's] precedent." See Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27, 31, 121 S.Ct. 2038, 150 L.Ed.2d 94 (2001); see also Hearring v. Sliwowski, 712 F.3d 275, 281 (6th Cir.2013) ("[T]he Fourth Amendment's protections are not triggered until a search occurs.").
Generally speaking, the Fourth Amendment applies when the "objectionable conduct occurred [in the context] of a criminal investigation or other form of governmental investigation or activity." See Poe v. Leonard, 282 F.3d 123, 136 (2d Cir.2002). Thus, the purpose of the search or seizure dictates whether or not it is considered a search or seizure under the Fourth Amendment. For example, in Poe v. Leonard, the Second Circuit considered a Fourth Amendment claim based on evidence that a state trooper asked the plaintiff to appear in a training video, told her to change her clothes in his office, and told her where to stand. Id. at 129. The plaintiff did as she was told, began undressing, and then saw that she was being videotaped by a camera planted by the trooper. Id. The Second Circuit reasoned that because the "surreptitious videotaping of [the plaintiff] during [the defendant's] assigned duties was for his personal reasons and not to advance any governmental purpose," the "Fourth Amendment simply [was] not implicated by his misconduct." Id. at 136-37.
The Third Circuit has come to a similar conclusion. In Doe v. Luzerne County, 660 F.3d 169 (3d Cir.2011), the plaintiff, a
The precedent is mixed on whether searches and seizures undertaken for medical purposes are covered by the Fourth Amendment. On one side, in Dubbs v. Head Start, Inc., 336 F.3d 1194 (10th Cir. 2003), the Tenth Circuit addressed Fourth Amendment claims based on evidence submitted by parents that their children were "subjected to intrusive physical examinations, including genital examinations and blood tests, on school premises without parental notice or consent." Id. at 1197. There, the Tenth Circuit rejected the defendants' argument that non-criminal and non-investigatory searches done for medical purposes are not covered by the Fourth Amendment. Id. at 1204-07.
Courts within the Second Circuit also have held that searches for medical purposes are not searches under the Fourth Amendment. In Kia P. v. McIntyre, 2 F.Supp.2d 281 (E.D.N.Y.1998), aff'd, 235 F.3d 749 (2d Cir.2000), a hospital conducted a urine test of an infant, which tested positive for methadone. Id. at 285. After receiving those results, a hospital social worker notified New York State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment, which, in turn, notified the Child Welfare Administration. Id. The court rejected the Fourth Amendment claim based on the testing of the child's urine, reasoning that "although the Fourth Amendment is triggered when state authorities have children undergo medical procedures for investigative purposes, the record ... indicate[d] that the urine test was not ordered
Based on this patchwork of cases, the Court cannot say that Defendants' conduct violated Plaintiff's clearly established constitutional right because it was not clearly established that Defendants' actions were even covered by the Fourth Amendment. "In order for a constitutional right to be clearly established, `[t]he contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right.'" Matusick v. Erie Cty. Water Auth., 757 F.3d 31, 60 (2d Cir.2014) (alteration in original) (quoting Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 640, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987)). "This does not mean that there must be a factual equivalency between the case at issue and prior cases," but rather the "`salient question' instead is whether the case law at the time in question would have put reasonable [state actors] on `fair warning' that their conduct violated the plaintiff's rights." See id. (quoting Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730, 741, 122 S.Ct. 2508, 153 L.Ed.2d 666 (2002)). Thus, in some circumstances, out-of-circuit case law may be sufficient to render a constitutional rule clearly established. In particular, the law must be "capable of making a reasonable person aware of whether an act violates a constitutional right — so that in fairness and pursuant to the purpose of qualified immunity to protect public officials acting in good faith, the defendant can be held to account for a violation." Id. at 61. For example, "where the law was established in three other circuits and the decisions of [the Second Circuit] foreshadowed the right,... the law was sufficiently `well established' that its violation stripped the defendant of his immunity." Id. at 61 (citing Varrone v. Bilotti, 123 F.3d 75, 79 (2d Cir.1997)). On the other hand, an out-of-circuit district court opinion and a reference by a different circuit in a non-precedential opinion does not make a right clearly established. See Matusick, 757 F.3d at 61. Here, the relevant out-of-circuit authority is split, with more courts holding that a search and seizure for medical purposes is not covered by the Fourth Amendment and, moreover, the precedent within the Second Circuit does not foreshadow the existence of Fourth Amendment protections but instead does the opposite.
Most instructive on this point is Hearring v. Sliwowski, 712 F.3d 275 (6th Cir. 2013). In Hearring, "a school nurse ... conducted a visual examination of [a] six-year-old
Therefore, Defendants are immune from liability on Plaintiff's Fourth Amendment claim, and Defendants' Motion To Dismiss this claim is granted.
Defendants seek dismissal of Plaintiff's substantive due process claim, arguing that, "[g]iven the availability of the Fourth Amendment as a source of constitutional protection, [P]laintiff cannot assert a substantive due process claim
Defendants also argue that Plaintiff "does not allege the level of `conscience-shocking' behavior required to state" a substantive due process claim. (Defs.' Mem. 15.) Plaintiff disputes this, but does not cite any case law indicating that a strip search of a student by a nurse for medical purposes is conscience-shocking behavior and that this was clearly established at the time of the events in question. (See Pl.'s Mem. of Law in Opp'n to
"Substantive due process protections extend only to those interests that are `implicit in the concept of ordered liberty,' which are rights `so rooted in the traditions and conscience of our people as to be ranked as fundamental.'" Smith v. Hogan, 794 F.3d 249, 255-56 (2d Cir.2015) (quoting Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319, 325, 58 S.Ct. 149, 82 L.Ed. 288 (1937), overruled in part on other grounds by Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 794, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 23 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969); see also Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292, 303, 113 S.Ct. 1439, 123 L.Ed.2d 1 (1993)). As is relevant here, the Second Circuit has held that there is a clearly established "right to privacy in one's unclothed or partially unclothed body," which right is protected by substantive due process. Poe, 282 F.3d at 138-39. Additionally, the Court notes that the right to bodily integrity is a clearly established right protected by the Due Process Clause, see Lombardi v. Whitman, 485 F.3d 73, 79 (2d Cir.2007) ("The substantive component of due process encompasses, among other things, an individual's right to bodily integrity free from unjustifiable governmental interference." (citing Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702, 720, 117 S.Ct. 2258, 138 L.Ed.2d 772 (1997))), although Plaintiff does not allege any physical injury as a result of Defendants' actions. Finally, the Supreme Court has recognized a "protected liberty interest in refusing unwanted medical treatment." Cruzan ex rel. Cruzan v. Dir., Mo. Dep't of Health, 497 U.S. 261, 278, 110 S.Ct. 2841, 111 L.Ed.2d 224 (1990).
However, merely alleging that a defendant impaired an interest protected by substantive due process is insufficient to state a substantive due process claim; rather, the action taken by the state actor must have been "so egregious, so outrageous, that it may fairly be said to shock the contemporary conscience." Lombardi, 485 F.3d at 79 (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Southerland v. City of New York, 680 F.3d 127, 151 (2d Cir.2012) (same); Poe, 282 F.3d at 139 (same). Indeed, "[t]he core protection provided by the Due Process Clause is protection against arbitrary government action," and therefore the "touchstone of due process is protection of the individual against ... the exercise of power without any reasonable justification in the service of a legitimate governmental objective." Poe, 282 F.3d at 139 (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Lewis, 523 U.S. at 845-46, 118 S.Ct. 1708); see also Southerland, 680 F.3d at 151 ("Substantive due process rights safeguard persons against the government's exercise of power without any reasonable justification in the service of a legitimate governmental objective." (internal quotation marks omitted)).
Cases where the Second Circuit has held that government behavior shocks the conscience and is not shielded by immunity have one thing in common: there is no "reasonable justification in the service of a legitimate governmental objective." Lewis, 523 U.S. at 846, 118 S.Ct. 1708. In Poe, for example, the Second Circuit held that:
282 F.3d at 139. There, however, it was clear that the defendant's actions were taken for personal reasons. Id. at 137.
Here, though, there was a legitimate government objective for the action: protecting the health and welfare of students for which Defendants were responsible. See Bd. of Educ. v. Earls, 536 U.S. 822, 830, 122 S.Ct. 2559, 153 L.Ed.2d 735 (2002) (noting that "in a public school environment[,]... the State is responsible for maintaining discipline, health, and safety"); Burlison v. Springfield Pub. Sch., 708 F.3d 1034, 1039 (8th Cir.2013) ("A student's privacy interest is limited in a public school environment where the State is responsible for maintaining discipline, health, and safety." (internal quotation marks omitted)), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 134 S.Ct. 151, 187 L.Ed.2d 39 (2013); Lebron v. Sec'y, Fla. Dep't of Children & Families, 710 F.3d 1202, 1210 (11th Cir.2013) ("[T]he individual privacy rights of the students... are limited in a public school environment where the State is responsible for maintaining discipline, health, and safety." (internal quotation marks omitted)). Moreover, no party has alerted the Court to any case in which a court addressed whether an unreasonable strip search of a student for medical purposes was sufficiently conscience-shocking to state a substantive due process claim, and the Court has not found any such case. Cf. Hearring, 712 F.3d at 283 (taking "no position on whether [the nurse's] conduct may have been actionable under a different provision of the Constitution"). In the absence of any cases addressing this issue, or even any analogous cases, the Court cannot say that reasonable state actors would have been aware that they were violating Plaintiff's rights. Matusick, 757 F.3d at 60.
In her opposition to Defendants' Motion To Dismiss, Plaintiff abandoned her section 1983 conspiracy claim. (See Pl.'s Mem. 2 ("In response to Defendants' argument aimed at Plaintiff's section 1983 conspiracy theory, Plaintiff withdraws her substantive conspiracy count.").) Therefore, this claim is dismissed. See Alvarez v. County of Orange, 95 F.Supp.3d 385, 398-99 (S.D.N.Y.2015) (dismissing claims where the plaintiff conceded he had failed to plausibly plead them and stated that he did not oppose the relief requested by the defendants); Willner ex rel. Willner v. Doar, No. 12-CV-1955, 2013 WL 4010205, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 5, 2013) (dismissing a claim after the plaintiff made concessions in his opposition brief and consented to the dismissal of his due process claim); Murphy v. Keller Indus., Inc., No. 95-CV-7643, 2002 WL 91622, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 23, 2002) (granting the defendant's motion to dismiss the claim against it after the plaintiff, in her opposition papers, "expressly conced[ed] that her claim against the [g]overnment [was] barred by the Federal Tort Claims Act").
Plaintiff asserts Fourth and Fifth Amendment claims under § 1983 against the School District. Federal constitutional claims asserted against school districts are analyzed under Monell v. New York City Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). See Fitzgerald v. Barnstable Sch. Comm., 555 U.S. 246, 257-58, 129 S.Ct. 788, 172 L.Ed.2d 582 (2009) ("A plaintiff stating a... claim via § 1983 ... by a school district or other municipal entity must show that the [violation] was the result of municipal custom, policy, or practice." (citing Monell, 436 U.S. at 694, 98 S.Ct. 2018)); T.P. ex rel. Patterson v. Elmsford Union Free Sch. Dist., No. 11-CV-5133, 2012 WL 5992748, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 27, 2012) ("A school district may be liable for deprivation of a student's rights pursuant to Section 1983 `when execution of a government's policy or custom, whether made by its lawmakers or by those whose edicts or acts may fairly be said to represent official policy, inflicts the injury ....'" (alteration in original) (quoting Monell, 436 U.S. at 694, 98 S.Ct. 2018)).
"Congress did not intend municipalities to be held liable [under § 1983] unless action pursuant to official municipal policy of some nature caused a constitutional tort." Monell, 436 U.S. at 691, 98 S.Ct. 2018. Thus, when bringing a claim against a municipality under § 1983 based on a public official's acts, "a plaintiff is required to prove: (1) actions taken under color of law; (2) deprivation of a constitutional or statutory right; (3) causation; (4) damages; and (5) that an official policy of the municipality caused the constitutional injury." Roe v. City of Waterbury, 542 F.3d 31, 36 (2d Cir.2008); cf. Salvatierra v.
"In determining municipal liability, it is necessary to conduct a separate inquiry into whether there exists a `policy' or `custom.'" Davis v. City of New York, 228 F.Supp.2d 327, 336 (S.D.N.Y.2002), aff'd, 75 Fed.Appx. 827 (2d Cir.2003). A plaintiff may satisfy the "policy or custom" requirement by alleging the existence of:
See Brandon v. City of New York, 705 F.Supp.2d 261, 276-77 (S.D.N.Y.2010) (citations omitted).
Normally, "a custom or policy cannot be shown by pointing to a single instance of unconstitutional conduct by a mere employee of the [municipality]." See Newton, 566 F.Supp.2d at 271; see also City of Okla. v. Tuttle, 471 U.S. 808, 823-24, 105 S.Ct. 2427, 85 L.Ed.2d 791 (1985) (plurality opinion) ("Proof of a single incident of unconstitutional activity is not sufficient to impose liability under Monell, unless proof of the incident includes proof that it was caused by an existing, unconstitutional municipal policy, which policy can be attributed to a municipal policymaker.");
At this stage, of course, Plaintiff need not prove these elements, but still must plead them sufficiently to make out a plausible claim for relief. Although there is no heightened pleading requirement for complaints alleging municipal liability under § 1983, see Leatherman v. Tarrant Cty. Narcotics Intelligence & Coordination Unit, 507 U.S. 163, 168, 113 S.Ct. 1160, 122 L.Ed.2d 517 (1993), a complaint does not "suffice if it tenders naked assertion[s] devoid of further factual enhancement," Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, to survive a motion to dismiss, Plaintiff cannot, through conclusory allegations, merely assert the existence of a municipal policy or custom, but "must allege facts tending to support, at least circumstantially, an inference that such a municipal policy or custom exists." Santos v. New York City, 847 F.Supp.2d 573, 576 (S.D.N.Y.2012). Put another way, mere allegations of a municipal custom, a practice of tolerating official misconduct, or inadequate training and/or supervision are insufficient to demonstrate the existence of such a custom unless supported by factual details.
Plaintiff's Complaint exclusively contains boilerplate language echoing the requirements in Monell. Plaintiff's allegations with respect to the School District are the following: Plaintiff alleges that there is an "indiscriminate strip-search policy," (see Compl. ¶ 8), and she states that:
(Id. ¶ 15(f).) Plaintiff also asserts that:
(Id. ¶ 42.) Finally, Plaintiff alleges that, "[d]uring all times relevant hereto, Defendant School District, its agents and employees, developed and maintained policies and/or customs exhibiting deliberate indifference to the Constitutional rights of Plaintiff and other students similarly situated, which caused a violation of Plaintiffs Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights." (Id. ¶ 48; see also id. ¶ 54 (same).)
These general allegations are "conclusory, and therefore must be disregarded." Simms v. City of New York, No. 10-CV-3420, 2011 WL 4543051, at *3 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 28, 2011) (citing Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678-79, 129 S.Ct. 1937) (dismissing conclusory allegations that did not provide any facts that would allow the court to infer what city policies or practices led to the alleged deficiency), aff'd, 480 Fed.Appx. 627 (2d Cir.2012); see also Triano v. Town of Harrison, 895 F.Supp.2d 526, 535-36 (S.D.N.Y.2012) (noting that "mere allegations of a municipal custom or practice of tolerating official misconduct are insufficient to demonstrate the existence of such a custom unless supported by factual details" and collecting cases); Duncan v. City of New York, No. 11-CV-3826, 2012 WL 1672929, at *2-*3 (E.D.N.Y. May 14, 2012) (holding that "boilerplate statements" claiming that New York City had a custom of making and tolerating false arrests and of using excessive force "[were] insufficient to state a claim of municipal liability under Monell"); Moore v. City of New York, No. 08-CV-8879, 2010 WL 742981, at *6 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 2, 2010) ("Allegations that a defendant acted pursuant to a policy or custom without any facts suggesting the policy's existence, are plainly insufficient." (internal quotation marks omitted)); Bradley v. City of New York, No. 08-CV-1106, 2009 WL 1703237, at *3 (E.D.N.Y. June 18, 2009) ("The [c]omplaint's conclusory, boilerplate language — that the [c]ity `failed to adequately train, discipline, and supervise' employees and `failed to promulgate and put into effect appropriate rules and regulations applicable to the duties and behavior' of its employees — is insufficient to raise an inference of the existence of a custom or policy, let alone that such a policy caused [the] [p]laintiff to be arrested without probable cause." (brackets and citation omitted)). Therefore, Plaintiff's § 1983 claims against the School District are dismissed.
Plaintiff asserts several claims under state law: a claim under Article I, § 12 of the New York State Constitution (Claim Four), a claim under Article I, § 6 of the New York State Constitution (Claim Five), an assault and battery claim (Claim Six), a false imprisonment claim (Claim Seven), an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim (Claim Eight), a negligent infliction of emotional distress claim (Claim Nine), and a prima facie tort claim (Claim Ten). (See Compl. ¶¶ 61-105.)
The Court has "supplemental jurisdiction over all other claims that are so related to claims in the action within such original jurisdiction that they form part of the same case or controversy under Article III of the United States Constitution." See 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a). "Claims are part of the same case or controversy if they derive from a common nucleus of operative fact[s]." SAT Int'l Corp. v. Great White Fleet (US) Ltd., No. 03-CV-7481, 2006 WL 661042, at *5 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 16, 2006). Here, Plaintiff's state and federal claims arise out of a common nucleus of operative facts, namely the search of Plaintiff. Nevertheless, because the Court dismisses Plaintiff's § 1983 claims against
For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' Motion To Dismiss is granted without prejudice. Plaintiff may file an amended complaint within 30 days of the date of this Opinion. The Clerk of the Court is respectfully requested to terminate the pending Motion. (See Dkt. No. 12.)
SO ORDERED.